Lucknow/Ghaziabad, Oct 8: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday inaugurated a new state-of-the-art cryogenic oxygen plant, the biggest in the state, which will help with supplies in hospitals.

The ultra-high purity air separation plant with a capacity of 150 tonnes per days (TPD) in Ghaziabad's Modinagar will produce liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon, according to INOX Air Products (INOX AP), which has commissioned the plant.

The chief minister, who inaugurated the plant virtually from his office in Lucknow, said the facility will help the state fight the coronavirus better.

“On this day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Jan Andolan' for COVID-19, I am happy to inaugurate a 150 TPD capacity Liquid Oxygen Plant in Uttar Pradesh which will help us to fight Corona better,” Adityanath tweeted.

In another tweet he described the plant as the “biggest” in the state. According to INOX AP, the plant has come up as a part of a memorandum of understanding they entered into with the UP government during the 'Investors Summit 2018'. The foundation stone for the project was laid by PM Modi on July 29, 2018.

“This is the sign of our commitment to bring investment in the state. MoU for this plant was signed in 2018 in the presence of PM Modi. It is our commitment and support to industry that this plant has started production,” CM Adityanath tweeted.

INOX AP said the plant will fulfil the need of medical oxygen as well as aid the state's industrial growth with a robust supply of industrial gases.

“With a potential to produce 150 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen per day, the plant now takes state's current liquid oxygen manufacturing capacity from 115 metric tonnes to 265 metric tonnes per day,” it said in a statement.

“It will fulfil the oxygen demand of more than 200 hospitals and medical colleges in the state as well as cater to the industrial gases needs of various industries,” INOX AP, one of India's largest manufacturers of industrial and medical gases, added.